Mini Specifications

1.7"
x
1.7"
x
1.7"

September

29

2017

0.1

45

minutes

817961 020523

Editorial Review

The Sphero Mini lives up to its name. It's the size and shape of a billiard ball and a pool hustler could probably make a fortune slipping it onto a felt table and controlling it by -- get this -- just tilting his head. For a device that could pass as a ping pong ball, the Mini is one of the most versatile bots in the automaton marketplace, and judging from their ads, Sphero isn't just marketing this for kids. It's aimed at everyone from 8-year-olds to high-school students and beyond. Talk about fun for the whole family.

The Mini can be controlled in a remarkable number of ways. Not only does it react to head tilts but to facial expressions (aimed, presumably, at its smartphone app). Give it a goofy grin and see what it decides to do. There are joystick-like controls on the app, but simply moving your smart device around will cause it to change direction as it scoots across a table top or a hardwood floor. Thrust your phone at it and see how it reacts. The Mini is a toy that you can race around tracks and experiment with endlessly. When you get tired of making googly eyes at it or contorting your iPhone, you can use the Sphero Edu app to program it with a drag-and-drop programming language or full-blown Javascript. If the Mini had been around in the 1970s, Steve Wozniak would probably have started his career like this. (Honestly, there are probably thousands of times more circuits in the Mini than in the original Apple ][.)

The Mini is also colorful. It comes with a set of interchangeable plastic shells to vary up the look and it flashes its LED lights in what Sphero claims are millions of colors, so you could also use it as a Christmas tree ornament. (Just don't make faces at the app while it's hanging from a branch.) Sphero is also the maker of the similar 2.0 and the Star Wars BB-8 Droid, but the Mini is a generation beyond those. For comparable if less capable devices, look at the Ozobot Bit and the Dfrobot Vortex.

Sphero Mini |
Reviewed by Botdb |
Rating: 4.5

Mini Reviews From Around The Web

Users can drive it around, program it, and play games with it through its companion iOS / Android app. There are four options for driving the Mini.